ISLAMABAD (Via Daily Dawn) : Corruption is of greatest concern and challenge in Asia and Pacific region, and 52 per cent of stakeholders participating in an independent perception survey commissioned by ADB agree that corruption results in wastage of most of the foreign assistance in their countries.
However, a majority of government stakeholders disagree with this opinion.
Respondents in Central and West Asia are more inclined than others to think that foreign development assistance goes to waste because of corruption.
Government stakeholders are the least inclined to view corruption as serious; 35 per cent of them say ‘it is very serious’.
Government stakeholders are also least concerned about environment, according to the survey published by the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday.
With stakeholders continuing to rate corruption as a serious threat facing their countries’ economic and social development, ADB considers fighting corruption as very high priority.
While the ranking of the top five ‘very serious threats’ in 2012 is consistent with 2009, stakeholders tend to view low rate of investment in their country as slightly more serious than in 2009.
Stakeholders think that deficiencies related to investment rate, natural resources, private sector activity are among the least serious issues.
However, concern about the health of the private sector is especially acute in Central and West Asia and the Pacific, as well as among media stakeholders.
Among five core areas, stakeholders rank improving education as the lowest where ADB places its priority.
A slim majority of stakeholders agree that enough is being done by their governments and foreign assistance organisations to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 in their country.
According to the survey, ADB continues to have a positive impact on the lives of the poor in the Asia and Pacific region.
The survey, conducted with 900 stakeholders in 31 member countries late last year and earlier this year, shows that the majority of opinion leaders across ADB member countries also think ADB helps countries meet their development goals, particularly through its support for infrastructure development.
“ADB is taking the survey findings seriously and is committed to improving its effectiveness. We will ensure that the survey results are fully utilised to assess our current performance and provide inputs to future corporate planning,” said ADB President Takehiko Nakao.
On its core mission in poverty reduction, more than half of stakeholders rated ADB's performance as either good or excellent.
This is an improvement from the last survey conducted in 2009, in which about 50pc of stakeholders rated ADB’s performance as either good or excellent.
Among those who rated ADB’s performance on poverty reduction as average or poor, a majority stated that poverty is too big and complicated a problem for any single organisation to solve.
The survey found that ADB’s focus on, and knowledge of, the Asia and Pacific region is seen as its greatest strength.
Being slow and bureaucratic is considered its greatest weakness.
Respondents indicated that ADB needs to show improvement on its work in promoting gender equality, improving education, and mobilising resources to develop the private sector.
Those surveyed suggested ADB should be more innovative.
Stakeholders also increasingly believe that poor infrastructure, limited educational opportunities and inadequate health services are also serious threats to development.
A strong majority said ADB should focus on improving infrastructure and education to best help reduce poverty and achieve regional development.
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